Pood patty press

ABSTRACT

THE BODY OF A PRESS FOR HAMBURGER OR THE LIKE IS PROVIDED WITH A VERTICAL CYLINDRICAL OPENING EXTENDING THROUGH IT. A BOTTOM CLOSURE PLATE COMPLETELY CLOSES THE LOWER END OF THE CYLINDRICAL OPENING. RELATIVELY THIN NYLON DISCS ARE DROPPED INTO THE PRESS ALTERNATELY WITH MEASURED PORTIONS OF HAMBURGERS TO BE PRESSED, AND A NYLON PLUNGER IS FORCED DOWN UPON THE TOP OF EACH MEAT PORTION AS IT IS PUT INTO THE PRESS TO FORM A LAYER OF MEAT PATTIES SEPARATED BY THE NYLON DISCS. A COVER IS PROVIDED TO ENCLOSE THE TOP OF THE CYLINDRICAL OPENING, EITHER WHEN THE PLUNGER IS STORED IN THE BODY OR WHEN MEAT PATTIES ARE THEREIN.

Aug. 6, 1974 R. D. LEE Re. 28,106

FOOD PATTY PRESS Original Filed May 1, 1969 FIS 4 United States PatentOiiee Reissued Aug. 6, 1974 Int. Cl. A22c 7/00 U.S. Cl. 17-32 10 ClaimsMatter enclosed in heavy brackets I] appears in the original patent butforms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italicsindicates the additions made hy reissue.

ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The body of a press for hamburger or the likeis provided with a vertical cylindrical opening extending through it. Abottom closure plate completely closes the lower end of the cylindricalopening. Relatively thin nylon discs are dropped into the pressalternately with measured portions of hamburgers to be pressed, and anylon plunger is forced down upon the top of each meat portion as it isput into the press to form a layer of meat patties separated by thenylon discs. A cover is provided to enclose the top of the cylindricalopening, either when the plunger is stored in the body or when meatpatties are therein.

any and all of the patties so they can be removed from the press one ata time or all together. The length of the plunger is such that when theentire press body is resting in inverted position on the horizontalsurface, with the handle of the piston rod in touch with that surface,the last patty will be resting on the piston in position where it can beeasily removed from the press.

BACKGROUND 0F THE INVENTION This invention has relation to apparatus formolding previously measured portions of meat such as hamburger, salmon,meat loaf, or other food products into patty form through the use ofpressure.

Previously, moldable foods such as ground meat or hamburger have beenforced into elongated molds before being divided into measured portions,and attempts have been made to slice or otherwise separate thehomogeneous mass of meat in the mold by slicing into the mold with aknife or a separator. This system has the disadvantage of requiringslots in the mold which tend to allow the hamburger to press out fromthe mold when it is being formed into a cylinder-like glob, thus makingit ditiicult or impossible to slide separators through the slots. Foodparticles adhere to these slots and the device is very ditr'- cult orimpossible to completely clean after it has been used.

Attempts have been made to slide such a cylindrical mass of meat out ofthe end of a press and to cut olf the patties one at a time as the meatis extruded from the press. This results in at least some deformation ofthe meat even under ideal conditions, and in many cases the patty formdesired is substantially entirely lost in the slicing process. Further,there is no convenient may to insure that all patties are of the samesize as the measurement is by eye and may or may not result in the sameweight of material going into each patty. Such a deviation in pattysize, shape or weight will result in different cooking characteristics.

A further problem with trying to push the entire homogeneous cylindricalmass from a press resides in the tendency of the meat to adhere to thesides of the press.

One form of hamburger press presently used consists of a base in which awell is provided, and a cover hinged to the base, the cover having adownwardly extending boss in alignment with the well on the base. Inorder to try to keep the formed hamburgers from adhering to the well andthe boss, it is necessary to lay a piece of wax paper over the boss,place the measured amount of meat on top of the wax paper, and to placeanother piece of wax paper over the top of the meat. The boss is presseddown into the well squashing the meat between the paper layers. The waxpaper and hamburger are then forced down into the shape of the well bythe boss. The resulting sandwich of wax paper, hamburger and wax paperis then stored with other such sandwiches" for usage. Inevitably thehamburgers are adhered to the wax paper so tightly that getting them oliso that they can be used results in as much mess to the cook as if shehad formed the patty in her own hands in the first place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A four part patty press of the presentinvention includes a body having a substantially vertical passagewayextending through it; a bottom closure plate of shape to lit into andcompletely close the lower end of said body; a cover of shape to closethe upper end of said passageway; and a plunger including a piston veryslightly smaller than a transverse section of the passageway. Aplurality of thin patty separators of material which will not adhere tothe food to be pressed are provided and are of identically the sameshape and dimension as a transverse section of the vertical passageway.

With the body of the food press positioned over the bottom closure platethereof and with one of the separators lying in the passageway and ontop of the bottom plate, a measured portion of hamburger or other foodto be pressed is dropped into the vertical passageway, and the plungeris forced down on to it to form the first patty. The plunger face ispreferably slightly conical with the apex of the cone being in thecenter of the piston face and the sides diverging upwardly and outwardlytherefrom. It is made of a material which will not adhere to the meat.The plunger can be rocked slightly as it is forced down and this and theshape of the piston face causes the hamburger to be forced tightly outagainst the sides of the vertical passageway thus causing a perfectpatty to be formed every time.

The plunger will then be removed, and the second separator followed bythe second measured portion of meat will be inserted into thepassageway, where the plunger will again be utilized to form the patty.This process is repeated until the desired number of patties has beenformed. The press, as shown, has hollow walls which encompass afreezable liquid. lf the patties are to be stored within the press forany considerable time and the press is to be stored outside of arefrigerator, this liquid will have been frozen prior to the formationof the patties as above described.

When the patties are to be removed from the press, the body of the pressis lifted from the bottom closure plate, the plunger inserted on top ofthe top patty, the body and plunger inverted and the plunger set againsta horizontal surface. The body will be forced down toward that surfacecausing the piston face to carry the patties, one at a time, intoclearing relationship with the body. Because each of the separators isscraping against the edge of the cylin- 3 drical passageway when thishappens, the meat tends not to adhere to the cylinder walls. Because thepiston face is supporting virtually the entire surface of the last pattyto be formed and, consequently all of the others, deformation of thesape of the patties is completely avoided.

The relationship of the length of the plungers piston rod to the body issuch that the last patty will be in position to be easily removed fromthe piston face when the body of the press and the handle of the pistonrod are resting against the horizontal surface.

The relationship between the cover, the body, the plun ger and thebottom closure plate are such that the plunger can be stored inside thebody with its piston face in contact with the bottom closure and withthe cover in place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevational view of thepatty press of the present invention with parts broken away to show therelationship of the plunger, the cover, the bottom closure and the bodywhen the press is stored;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the patty press of FIG. l showingthe relationship of the parts after a number of patties have beenformed;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing a plurality of patties beingexpelled from the press; and

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the relationship of partsafter all of the patties have been expressed from the press and the bodyand plunger of the press are supported in free standing relationship ona horizontal work surface in supporting relationship to the pattieswhich are all available for easy access.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Patty press includes a body 11,a bottom closure member or plate 12, a plunger 13, and a cover 14.

The body 11 includes an inner cylinder wall 15 defining a verticalcylindrical passageway 16, an outer upright wall 17 spaced from theinner wall and a oor 20 joining these walls to provide a sealed coolantcompartment 18. This compartment can be lilled with a two phase fluid19, such as water, which can be pre-frozen to preserve patties stored inthe press at a safe temperature for an extended period of time. In FIGS.2 and 3, this uid 19 is shown in the frozen form, while in FIG. 4 it isshown after it has become melted.

The body 11 can be made out of any suitable material, but use of amaterial such as nylon or Teon on the surface of the inner wall toovercome any tendency of the food patty to stick to the side walls willbe helpful.

The bottom closure plate 12 includes an upwardly extending boss 22 whichis cylindrical in shape and exactly lls and closes the lower end of thepassageway 16. As shown in FIG. 2, when the body ll is positioned on theclosure plate 12, the lower edge wall of the body is supported on anoutwardly extending base integral with said boss in spaced relationshipto the surface on which the closure plate is supported. This insuresthat there is a good sealing relationship maintained between the closureplate and the inner wall 15 of the body during the formation of patties.As clearly seen in FIG. 2, this boss base terminates in a planeperpendicular to the inner wall 15.

The plunger 13 includes a piston 23 of nylon, Teflon, wood, or othersuitable material. This piston is provided with a conical piston face 24having an apex 25 and which extends gently outwardly and upwardly fromthat apex as seen in FIG. 2. A piston rod 26 extends from the piston 23to a handle 27. This handle has a flat portion 28 at the outermostsurface thereof.

A plurality of round thin separator discs 29 are of exactly the samediameter as that of the vertical cylindrical passageway 16 of the body11, and are constituted of a material which will not tend to adhere tothe food material to be pressed into patties. Discs of nylon materialhave been found excellent for this purpose as they are stiff, exible andresilient and as such are easily removed from the completed patties.

With the body 1l and bottom closure member 12 posi tioned as seen inFIG. 2, a first disc-like separator 29 is inserted into the verticalpassageway 16 where it will be in intimate contact with the inner wall15 throughout the periphery thereof thus to prevent meat particles frombeing extruded down along the edge of that wall. A previously measuredquantity of ground meat or the like witl be dropped into the verticalpassageway. This meat can be measured by volume or byweight, but withthe use of spoons or scoops or the like, and without the necessity ofthe meat having to touch human hands. Next ,the plunger 13 is insertedthrough the vertical passageway and forced down upon the meat, causingthe meat to flatten and to move out toward the wall l5 in all`directions. In order to insure that the meat moves out uniformly, it ispossible to rock the piston as it isforced down by moving the handle 27transversely of the longitudinal axis of the press body. This ispossible because of the clearing relationship of the piston 23 withrespect to the side wall 1S. For purposes of clarity, that spacing hasbeen somewhat over emphasized in the drawings and particularly in FIG. 2thereof. Sufficient clearance to allow a slight rocking action is allthat is needed. The movement of the meat uniformly outwardly in alldirections is also facilitated by the slight conical shape to the pistonface 24.

After the first patty is formed, the plunger can be removed either bydirect vertical movement, or by an added twisting action to help thepiston face 24 come clear of the meat patty. A second round, thinseparator disc 29 is placed on top of the rst patty, and a secondmeasured quantity of meat is placed on top of that. The separator discswill have suflicient stiffness so that as soon as the plunger is forceddown on the second quantity of meat, the second separator will act as apiston face itself and will tend to flatten out the slightly conicallyconcave upper surface of the lirst patty. Specifically, the stiffnesswill prevent the conical shape of piston face 24 from affecting theshape of the bottom surface of the second patty.

The process of patty formation will be continued until as many pattiesas are needed are stored within the body of the press.

When the time comes for removing a patty from the press, the plunger andpress body are positioned as seen in FIG. 3, and the press is forceddownwardly toward the surface on which the plunger is resting thus tocause Y,the patties to be extruded as seen in that figure.

When the patties are to be stored indefinitely for future use, forexample to be frozen, the body of the press will be forced down to theposition as seen in FIG. 4, and all of the patties will be resting onthe piston 23 and in clearing relationship to the floor wall 20 of thebody of the press.

When all of the patties are going to be used in the relatively nearfuture, for example when they are being put on to a grill for cooking asrapidly as possible, they can also be completely extruded and the partswill then be positioned as seen in FIG. 4.

However, as is the case in connection with serving large parties, forexample, it may be that the cook wants to get, and if possible, to keepa few patties ahead. In that situation the maximum number of pattieswhich fit inside of the press can be made up ahead of time, and can beused from the press one or several at a time by the process asillustrated best in FIG. 3. When the grill is full, or when there is atemporary lack of demand for more hamburgers, the last extruded pattycan be removed, the body of the press lifted vertically upwardly tobring the plunger in clearing relation with the horizontal surface, thebottom closure member 12 pushed back into place, the press body invertedto position as seen in FIG. 2, and more hamburger patties be made. Asadditional patties are needed, the press body can be inverted, thedesired number extruded, and then the press can once again be turned asseen in FIG. 2 and additional patties formed.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A food press including an upright body having a substantiallyvertical, continuous inner wall providing a passageway of uniform crosssectional dimension extending therethrough; a closure member movablefrom a first position in closing, force resistant relationship withrespect to a first end of said passageway to a second position inclearing relationship thereto, said closure member being constituted asan upwardly extending boss extending into and completely filling atransverse section of said first end of said passageway and terminatingin a plane perpendicular to said inner wall, and an outwardly extendingbase integral with the boss and terminating in an upper surface adjacentsaid boss in a body supporting plane also perpendicular to the innerwall and in a lower surface par allel to the plane of said boss and saidupper base surface; a plunger having a piston of shape and size to filla transverse section of said passageway; and a plurality of disclikeseparators of dimension to fit into said passageway, to lie transverselythereof, and to lie in intimate contact with the entire inner walldefining said passageway; said piston plunger being of dimension toterminate in slightly spaced relation to the entire periphery of saidpassage wall when in said passageway, and said plunger piston beingprovided with a convex face; said plunger also including a piston rodextending from said piston and a handle on the other end of said pistonrod; the length of said plunger being such that said piston rod face ispositioned to hold all food patties clear of said press body when saidbody with plunger therein is inverted and rests together with the handleof said plunger on a horizontal surface.

2. A food press including an upright body having a substantiallyvertical, continuous inner wall providing a passageway of uniform crosssectional dimension extending therethrough; a closure member movablefrom a rst position in closing, force resistant relationship withrespect to a first end of said passageway to a second position inclearing relationship thereto, said closure member being constituted asan upwardly extending boss extending into and completely filling atransverse section of said rst end of said passageway and terminating ina plane perpendicular to said inner wall, and an outwardly extendingbase integral with the boss and terminating in an upper surface`adjacent said boss in a body supporting plane also perpendicular to theinner wall and in a lower surface parallel to the plane of said boss andsaid upper base surface; r

a plunger having a piston of shape and size to fill a transverse sectionof said passageway; and a plurality of disc-like separators of dimensionto fit into said passageway, to lie transversely thereof, and to lie inintimate contact with the entire inner wall defining said passageway;said piston plunger being of dimension to terminate in slightly spacedrelation to the entire periphery of said passage wall when in saidpassageway, and said plunger piston being provided with a convex facedefined by a relatively fiat conical section; said plunger alsoincluding a piston rod extending from said piston and a handle on theother end of said piston rod; the length of said plunger being such thatsaid piston rod face is positioned to hold all food patties clear ofsaid press body when said body with plunger therein is inverted andrests together with the handle of said plunger on a horizontal surface.

3. A food press including an upright body having a substantiallyvertical, continuous inner wall providing a passageway of uniform crosssectional dimension extending therethrough; a closure member movablefrom a first position in closing, force resistant relationship withrespect to a rst end of said passageway to a second position in clearingrelationship thereto, said closure member being constituted as anupwardly extending boss extending into and completely filling atransverse section of said first end of said passageway and terminatingin a plane perpendicular to said inner wall, and an outwardly extendingbase integral with the boss and terminating in an upper surface adjacentsaid boss in a body supporting plane also perpendicular to the innerwall and in a lower surface parallel to the plane of said boss and saidupper base surface; a plunger having a piston of shape and size to filla transverse section of said passageway; a plurality of disc-like aseparators of dimension to tit into said passageway, to lie transverselythereof, and to lie in intimate contact with the entire inner walldefining said passageway; said piston plunger being of dimension toterminate in slightly spaced relation to the entire periphery of saidpassage wall when in said passageway, and said plunger piston beingprovided with a convex face; said plunger also including a piston rodextending from said piston and a handle on the other end of said pistonrod; the length of said plunger being such that said piston rod face ispositioned to hold all food patties clear of said press body when saidbody with plunger therein is inverted and rests together with the handleof said plunger on a horizontal surface; and a cover of configuration toclose a second end of said passageway; the relationship of said cover,body, closure member and plunger being such that said plunger fits intothe space defined by said cover, said inner body walls and said closuremember when said cover and closure member are in place on said body.

4. The combination as specified in claim 2 wherein said inner walls,piston face and separators are of materials which will tend not toadhere to food which has been pressed.

5. The combination as specified in claim 4 wherein said material isnylon.

6. The combination as specified in claim 4 wherein said material isTeflon.

7. The combination as specified in claim 4 wherein said separators aresutliciently stiff so that the conical shape of the piston face is nottransmitted to the side of a patty opposite the piston face and incontact with a separator.

8. The combinaion as specified in claim 2 wherein the separators aremade of plastic material which is both flexible and resilient.

9. A food press including on upright body having a substantiallyvertical, continuous inner wall providing a passageway of uniform crosssectional dimension extending therethrough; a closure member movablefrom a first position in closing, force resistant relationship withrespect to a yrst end of said passageway to a second position inclearing relationship thereto, said closure member being constituted asan upwardly extending boss extending into and completely lling atransverse section of said first end of said passageway and terminatingin a plane generally perpendicular to said inner wall, and an outwardlyextending base integral with `the boss and termi- F noting in am uppersurface adjacent said boss in a body supporting plane also perpendicularto the inner wall and in a lower surface parallel to the plane of saidboss and said upper base surface; a plunger having a piston of shape andsize to fill a transverse section of said passageway; and a plurality ofdisc-like separators of dimension to t into safid passageway, to lietransversely thereof, and to lie in intimate Contact with the entireinner wall defining said passageway; said plunger also including apiston rod extending from said piston and a handle on the other end ofsaid piston rod; the length of said plunger being such that said pistonrod face is positioned to hold all of the food patties at leastpartially clear of said press body when said body with plunger thereinis inverted and rests together with the handle of the plunger ou ahorizontal surface.

I0. The combindtion as specified in claim 9 and a cover of configurationto close a second end of sold passageway; the relationship of saidcover, body, closure member and plunger being such that said plungerfits into the space defined by said cover, said inner body walls and 7 8said closure mzmber when .mid cover and closure mem- 2,099,638 11/1937Wiley 17-32 ber are n place ony said body. 2,101,755 12/1937 Rosenstoneet al. 17--32 2,807,221 9/1957 Gallop 17-32 References Cited 2,837,7616/1958 Stiegler 249-74 2 896 528 7/1959 Walters et al. 17-32 X Thefollowing references, cned by the Exammer, are 5 x of record in thepatented file of this patent or the original 3411176 H968 Holly 17-32patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS LUCIE H. LAUDENSLAGER, Prlmary Exarmner 1,968,3847/1934 Gaunt 17-32 U.S. Cl. X.R.

2,053,662 10/1936 Broeg 249-126 x 1 249-74

